Sunday Drive- taking time to explore

So after our week in LA, we were headed west to AZ. After learning our limits with the trek East, we decided to take it a little easier and not push it with 8 hour days that resulted in cranky parents, kids and dogs alike. We ventured through LA, TX and were going to head to Roswell, NM in search of aliens but realized that Area 51 is actually in Nevada, not NM, so we landed at Las Cruces for a week. We did detour to see the amazing natural wonder of the Carlsbad caverns after taking a somewhat harrowing trip through Texas as I tried to avoid traffic of San Antonio and ended up taking us on a windy 2 lane road for 50 miles that tested the limits of the brakes as well as Walt’s patience. 😉

Again, it showed the reality of what it truly takes to supply this big country with their things and fuel as we drove through the oil fields of Texas. It felt as if it was a place driven by greed and desperation and it was not a safe place to be a woman. Our guard was up and it was even more eerie as a thick layer of fog came over the road for a couple hours and we narrowly avoided a 6 foot metal post that was squarely in the middle of the lane that caused us to smell burning rubber for a while from the trucker up ahead. As the fog lifted, sirens rang and we saw the remnants of a gnarly accident reiterating the risks and dangers of traveling on the road. Again, as we took a left out of Texas, we took a sigh of relief as the fog lifted, the road opened up and the sight of the national forest appeared. Carlsbad was incredible and felt as if we were in a different world, one curated by aliens, so I guess we found our own alien encounter.

The road to Las Cruces took us down to the border, through desolate swaths of land with warnings of frequent dust storms, and through El Paso, TX. As I have preached throughout, it is good to experience other cultures without judgement, but I have somewhat of a challenging time doing that with this town. Granted, we were only driving through and I am sure that there are lovely parts of the community, but we entered into town on the east side and I was taken aback by the rawness of the place and the overall sense of desperation. Acres of dead cars, pawn shops, pay day loan businesses, adult stores, and somewhat most jarring, a large drive-in movie theater that showed adult entertainment. Fuel was dirt cheap and the wind was blowing so hard that you could hear the faint sound of sand hitting the vehicle.

Desperation. Desperation to live, to work, to have joy and pleasure, and mostly to survive. We were there just days before the mayor issued a state of emergency due to the overwhelming number of immigrants crossing the border and not having the capacity to manage the influx. It became more dangerous as the weather was cold and people who were fleeing their homes in search of refuge, were willing to travel thousands of miles, wait in lines for days for the opportunity to sleep on the street with their families for the idea of a better life. People just trying to survive. So yes, El Paso is dirty, it is raw, and for those of us with privilege, it is jarring and feels like the armpit of America. But for those fleeing for their lives, it is a sanctuary.

As we traveled through El Paso, counting our blessings, the wind increased and we travelled through a mountain pass where the previously faint sound of sand hitting the truck became noticeably louder and the size of the particles became larger and larger. As we crested the pass, a rock the size of a half dollar came careening at the windshield. Walt was white knuckle trying to manage the wind gusts with a behemoth trailer behind him and trying to stay in his lane as cars passed him by. The rocks sounded like hail on the truck and I was holding my breath nearly the entire time until my brain reminded me to breathe. Thankfully, Olive was contentedly watching a show and giggling every now and then. The only harm done was a small chip in the windshield and a few more gray hairs. We rolled into Las Cruces and set up at the KOA with the wind still howling but with the newfound ability to breathe deeply.

We stayed here for a week, ate delicious food, Olive met another friend whose parents were full timers like us and the mom was in healthcare and stayed an extra day to experience White Sands National Monument. As this was the first winter without snow for Olive and myself, it was a fun and drier sledding experience that was renewing and awe inspiring.